La Vallée-de-Jacmel
"Bondye pa bòpè." God is not a father-in-law. -Haitian proverb La Vallée-de-Jacmel (English: Jacmel Valley) is a commune, part of the Jacmel Arrondissement in the Southeast Department of Haiti. ]] About From Jacmel to La Vallee it’s a 45 minute ride. The town has a plethora of newly built modern houses, and many small traditional dwellings. Prior to 1791, La Vallee was an agricultural mecca, which attracted many French and newly freed slaves (affranchis). They were also drawn by its delightful climate and the natural beauty of the environment. Many neighborhoods in La Vallee kept the names of their big plantation owners such as: Bouchereau, Lauture, Lacour, Labadie, Bellande, De Lisle, Boursiquot, Lamothe, Dade, Douge, and Ridore. Many more settlers landed in La Vallee during the revolution (1791 – 1804) and the repression against the French slave owners (1804 – 1806). Additional neighborhoods that kept the name of their former big land owners are: Dure, Payen, Turnier, and Laroche. The patron saint of the town is St. John the Baptist celebrated on June 24th. The festival of St. Rose of Lima, (Ternier, jean-Rabel) is celebrated around August 23rd. These two big events bring an influx of people to La Vallee during the summer, and is the most interesting time to visit. The parish, under the patronage of Saint John the Baptist, was founded in November 1910 by Reverend Father Léon Bonnaud. At the beginning of the twenty-first century (2000's), La Vallée celebrated the centenary of the parish's founding. In terms of settlement, the environment is rather composite, having undergone all the influences that characterize the Haitian population. In some areas, there is a preponderance of pre-Columbian strains, although many of them have moved into the United States since the early 1950s. ]] Enivronment The town of La Vallée is located between the towns of Jacmel and Bainet. As a county seat, La Vallée is distant from Jacmel by 27 km. As its name does not indicate, it rises to 800 meters of altitude, opening on mountainous perspectives of beauty, revealing, on one side, deep gorges that the eyes can not manage to embrace. all and, on the other, below, green hills studded with country dwellings. Because of the altitude, it benefits from a relatively temperate climate, though sometimes humid, which the cottagers love. Geography La Vallée-de-Jacmel is located at 18.2792° N, 72.6683° W. According to the IHSI, the commune has a total land area of 84.79 square kilometers (32.74 square miles), of which 47.64 km² (56%) is rural, 36.27 km² (43%) is suburban, and 0.88 km² (1%) is urban. The commune is located at the northwest corner of Jacmel Arrondissement, with Léogâne Arrondissement, (Western Department) to the north and Bainet Arrondissement to the west. The town is bordered by Grand-Goâve to the north, Léogâne to the northeast, Jacmel to the east, and Bainet to the south. La Vallée is located 10 km (6 miles) west of Jacmel, 190 rd km (118 road miles) east of Les Cayes and 94 km (58 miles) south-southwest of Port-au-Prince. La Vallée takes its name from the river of the same name, which joins the river left at the place called the Waters of the Valley. In the past, the valley was part of the communal sections of Bainet, with the northern edge of town falling to the 6th Great Hill section of Grand-Goâve, and the west by the ridge road of the Berauth habitation. It is bounded on the east by the Bainet Road. There are three communal sections the commune of La Vallée. The inhabitants of La Vallée are called Valléen. The relief of this municipality largely consists of valleys and its climate varies from the normal to the extremes according to the period. Neighborhoods Demographics The urban area has an area of 0.88 km2 (0.34 sq.mi) with a density of 1,436 per km2 (3,718 per sq.mi). Its 1,264 people represent 3.13% of the total population. Economy The two most important sources of revenues for the locals are agricultural products and animal farming (mostly chickens, goats, pigs and cows). The population of La Vallee is largely devoted to agriculture. The main products, in addition to food, are generally fruits and, in particular, different varieties of citrus fruits. The succulent mandarins of the region are renowned for their finesse. The Valley was once famous for its potato production. Infrastructure ]] Transportation Route Departmentale 401 runs through the town's first section. Education The commune of La Vallée is one of the most literate regions of the country with a highest rate in the past 50 years. It is not a coincidence. By the beginning of the last century, the community had two Congregational primary schools (Léonce Mégie School, founded and run by the Brothers of Christian Instruction since 1926, and the Saint-Paul School founded and run by the Religious of the Daughters of Mary in 1931). Over time, several other schools have joined the ranks, including secondary schools, making education accessible to all. Currently, the Lycée Philippe Jules has already trained several cohorts of young people while the Notre-Dame University establishes a campus for some disciplines. In the Valley, two inspectors supervise the schools of the commune. The city has a seat of examination of the Certificate of Primary Studies (CEP), which is the responsibility of an inspector of the county office located in Jacmel. For the primary level, the schools divided into 4 public, more than a dozen private and 2 congregational. At secondary level, a high school and two colleges are inventoried. Additionally, the commune has three literacy centers. Health , Haiti]] The Ministry of Public Health and Population is not represented in the commune of the Valley. As health facilities, there is a hospital and a dispensary. The hospital is semi-private but with very small staff including a doctor, nurse, trainee and graduate, and assistants. The Valley is served for health care by the Saint-Joseph Community Hospital. It also has the Auberge du Mont St Jean and the Prag Hotel. The hospital has annexes in several localities of the municipality. For the dispensary, it is community-based, and includes a very small staff consisting of a doctor, a nurse and an auxiliary. This clinic is very useful to the inhabitants. In this dispensary, whatever the amount of medication requested, the amount of the fees to be paid does not exceed ten gourdes. There are also two pharmacies in the municipality. Unfortunately, they are not well supplied. Thus, the Valleyans are, most often, forced to go to Jacmel to perform a prescription. Utilities As for the availability of the municipality in Water, two rivers and 66 sources have been inventoried in the municipality. In Bellande, there are six cisterns built by the international plan serving 1,300 subscribers at the rate of 17 gdes per month. Regarding Electricity, only the city of the valley and the bottom Ridoré are electrified. Electricity is provided by the Valley Development Committee (CODEVA), which has great difficulty in running the electric motor. The monthly public aid in gas is irregular and the beneficiaries can not regularly pay the monthly contribution of 15 gourdes. The management committee of the electric motor is therefore forced to stop the operation of the device. It is worth mentioning that in La Vallée some institutions are supplied with electricity thanks to solar panels. Security With regard to administrative and judicial infrastructures, the commune has only a court of peace and a police custody room. One does not really find a prison at the level of the commune, but preferably a custody. Culture Organizations With regard to Political Parties and Organizations, only one NGO and two international organizations were counted at the commune level of the valley. The NGO CODEHA is active in the commune. Communication In terms of communication, we found a radio station but we did not notice the existence of newspapers, magazines, nor a television station. Leisure As regards places of entertainment and leisure, they are in very limited number. The gaguères constitute the principal places of entertainment of the population of the commune. They are thirteen and are distributed in the various communal sections. As other entertainment, there is only football (soccer) Currently, the town hall is developing a space to allow young people to make a better practice of the sport. Sights Among the main attractions are: the church of Saint-Jean Baptiste completed in 1922 and the bust of the founder, Father Léon Bonnaud, adjoining (inaugurated on the occasion of the centenary celebrations in 2010); the panoramic view of Baie de Bainet from the plateau of Ridoré; the picturesque rural Friday market, still at Ridore; the falls of the Bassin L'Etang and finally the sinkhole of Séjourné one of the deepest of the Antilles with its 167m of depth. Kite festival The festival stated in 2010 to give kids in La Vallée something productive to do over the holidays. The earthquake happened right after, and the next year everyone made black kites with the names of lost family members and other people who passed away in the earthquake. Ever since then, it's become an annual tradition with kids in La Vallée, and now you even have people from Germany and Japan bringing in fun kites for the kids, along with the homemade ones that are made locally. Notable people The Valley is the cradle of some singers of the country of which: Marc Léo Laroche: Anacaona (novel), The tragedy of the Queen of Xaragua (theater), Miscellanées blues (poetry) see cramoel blogspot.com Charles Ridoré: A new dawn for Haiti (poetry) Lucienne Nicolas: Urban spaces in the novel of the Haitian diaspora (essay). The Valley also gave birth to the late Monsignor Pétion Laroche, Bishop of Haiti and Mgr. Chibly Langlois current bishop of Les Cayes, first Haitian Cardinal, and Marie Carmelle Jean Marie, former Minister of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Haiti. The famous Haitian traditional song "Panama mwen tonbe", alludes to The Valley of Jacmel. lvdj9.jpg|La Vallée-de-Jacmel, Sud-Est, Haiti lvdj10.jpg|Residential home in La Vallee lvdj11.jpg lvdj12.jpg|View of Jacmel lvdj13.jpg|Residential home in La Vallee lvdj110.jpg|Ridore Market lvdj111.jpg|Hospital Saint-Jean lvdj112.jpg|Students of the Lycee RN4-10.jpg|Ecole secondaire La Vallee de Jacmel Sources La Vallee de Jacmel - Fraternite Valleenne Inc http://www.fraternitevalleenne.org/la-vallee-de-jacmel.html La Vallee de Jacmel - http://www.fraternitevalleenne.org/fv-40-year-history.html Kreyol Chronicles La Vallée Kite Festival http://www.largeup.com/2015/08/13/kreyol-chronicles-la-vallee-kite-festival/ Michael Vedrine Category:Jacmel Arrondissement Category:Sud-Est, Haiti